When I was in college, Professors used to tell us that our essays should be parsimonious, meaning that we should adopt the simplest assumption in the formulation of a hypothesis or interpreting data. If you’re in a field close to political science or economy you probably already understand what I mean, but if not, let’s just say it’s “less is more”. I can’t definitely state that I write parsimoniously, but I can say I do apply the idea to my makeup looks. Probably my environment helps to go for that approach, but I think it also has to do with my personal preferences. This has also had a couple of consequences, the first and funniest one is that many people don’t believe I do love makeup since I don’t do drag queen makeup looks or vibrant colorful ones like Rihanna –unless I’m doing a challenge of course- or I just don’t do smokey eyes and uber pale lips everyday just like the women in Telenovelas.

I will further develop this, but there are some must-haves for this kind of look. It’s not a totally natural look since there is some color showing out there, and it pays more attention to eyes than the California Girl Look, so it’s not exactly the same. It’s very balanced and that can be done on a daily basis without the need of having amazing skills. When I think of examples, the aesthetics of two brands come to my mind: Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown.

In opposition, in this picture for the 2012 Holiday Collection all the attention was drawn onto red lips while the rest remained neutral –but of course, eyes were tightlined so they don’t get lost and flawless skin.

This is probably a colorful one and it’s still parsimonious. Lip is bright but still not as scandalous as red could be, while eyes remain tightlined and neutral and the rest of it is neutral as well, flawless skin is also there. This picture is from 2013 Summer Folklore collection.

I totally agree with this image, flawless has different faces and this is the first must have in a Parsimonious makeup: a flawless skin. That doesn’t mean that you need to use tons of full coverage foundation and hundreds of concealers, but to take a better care of your skin. Improving your skincare routine can help achieve a gorgeous almost-flawless natural skin. Now let’s see my other inspiration for these kinds of looks: Bobbi Brown.

This is the first look Bobbi Brown did for Katie Holmes, as she became the new face of the brand. Yes, it’s smokey and more suitable for an evening event, yet she doesn’t look like she got punched on the eyes, she has bad under eye darkness or can be easily confused with a panda –all the contrary to this Lady Gaga look. In fact, I think this look reminds me of the first Laura Mercier one I showed you, right?

Here is one more suitable for everyday wear, and it looks almost natural, right? We see many common elements from past pictures: flawless skin, groomed brows and tightline. But in comparison to the others, the focus went on cheeks with a pinky blush while eyes and lips remain neutral.

I’ve been a beauty junkie before beauty blogs became that popular. I’ve always loved HE makeup, since my mom gave me as a gift my first dior quint and gloss. Many friends and acquaintances asked me for makeup recommendations and sometimes even to do their makeup. So just one day, I decided to share my thoughts and experience by writing a blog.